


A Haptic Creature

by slushiepuff



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-01-07 16:25:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12236472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slushiepuff/pseuds/slushiepuff
Summary: Pepper's out of town. Tony's not taking it well.The Avengers notice.Based on a prompt from avengerkink.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The original prompt:
> 
> "Pepper is out of the country on a long business trip. Tony's getting edgier and edgier. The rest of the team assume it's because of sexual frustration and even start to make jokes about it. Then somehow it comes out / someone realizes it's not as much the sex as the little things Tony's missing. Cuddles, hair-stroking, handholding, forehead kisses, things like that.  
> Then all the other Avengers provide and there are happy times for all. =D"
> 
> I had originally start filling this on LJ years ago, and after years of neglect I decided to edit it and post it here as well as continue it.

Natasha looked up from her tablet at Steve as he walked into the room saying, “I’m getting a little concerned.”

“About Tony?”

“Yeah, he usually gets out of his lab for coffee at least twice a day but I haven’t seen him in almost two days.” Steve dropped onto the couch next to her.

Natasha offered him a small, knowing smile and handed him her tablet. On the home page of Woman Magazine was an article that read “Pepper Potts Presents at Global CEO Conference” under a close-up picture of Pepper smiling serenely at someone or something off camera. A glance at the brief excerpt under the headline indicated the conference was taking place in Switzerland that very week.

“He must be missing Ms. Potts, then.” Steve returned Natasha’s smile, reassured. “He’ll probably come up for movie night, though.”

Clint suddenly dropped down to the floor next to Natasha from the ceiling, while the seated spy seemed unsurprised (and she most likely wasn’t), Steve looked up in alarm. An air vent. Of course.

Clint sat down on the arm of an armchair, facing the sofa Natasha and Steve were sharing, swinging his legs gently. “I ran into him last night,” he commented, “I barely got to say hi before he was out of the room. He might’ve said something back but I’m not sure, all I heard was growling. ”

Natasha raised her eyebrows, “I’m sure you’re just exaggerating, Clint.” Her voice was filled with amusement.

Clint sighed, “Maybe a little,” and threw himself dramatically backwards into the chair, arms spread like wings.

“It just seems to me like he’s missing her company,” he paused for effect, “If you know what I mean.”

His smirk was met with two unimpressed stares.

“Fine. Fine.” The spy lifted his hands in surrender, “I was just putting it out there.”

He stood up again, on the arm of the occupied couch this time, getting ready to take his preferred method of transport and uttered, “Well, whatever is wrong with him, let’s hope it gets sorted out in the next couple days. Movie night with a miserable Tony doesn’t sound fun.”

Then he was gone.

~

Tony stared blankly at the glowing hologram of a repulsor before him while his hands were occupied with holding a blanket in place.

“Sir, I believe you would perhaps benefit from lying down on the couch for a moment. It appears that no work is being done and you are straining your eyes for no reason.”

JARVIS’s voice startled him out of his reverie, “What’s that, J?”

“I simply made an observation of your inactivity, sir, and suggested that you may benefit from a break,” stated JARVIS in his usual calm demeanor. However, if you knew to listen, you could hear the AI’s concern.

“The suit rep–”

Tony was abruptly cut off, “If I may, sir, the suit repairs can surely wait until you are back to your energetic self.”

Tony glared at the nearest camera before waving in the direction of the hologram still projected in front of him, “Just pull up the suit schematics.”

JARVIS remained silent as the hologram of the repulsor was replaced with that of the entire suit.

“Now label the needed repairs – usual colours for different severities.”

~

On the morning of Movie Night, the whole team was sat around the kitchen island eating their breakfasts of choice.

Thor had made the trip from London where he had been staying with Jane, Darcy, and sometimes Erik specifically for the Team Movie Night. Presently, he was inquiring over the rest of the team’s wellbeing.

“Doctor Banner!” He began, “Is your laboratory fixed? That was quite the explosion and, if I remember correctly, the repairs were still ongoing last week.”

Bruce gave Thor his trademark smile; small and shy. “All fixed up,” he assured, “and no other tower-rocking explosions yet.”

Thor let out a hearty laugh before turning his attention to Natasha and Clint Who were sitting across from him. “And Lady Natasha, Friend Clint, I believe you mentioned a mission last week – I expect it went well?”

“You could say that,” replied Natasha.

A smirk was playing around her lips as she glanced at Clint who promptly started ranting with swooping gestures about how boring it was and that his skills weren’t appreciated. Apparently he had been stuck manning the plane.

“To be the means of escape for your team is a very important job.” Thor interjected with a serious expression, “Underappreciated, but important nonetheless.” 

“I know, but someone else could have done that just as well,” Clint answered before he pushed his plate forward with his arms and dropped his head on them – his hair nearly brushing the eggs on the plate. “I don’t even know why I was called out.”

Around the table, a series of amused glances were shared before Natasha ruffled his hair and spoke – still smirking. “If it’s any consolation, I appreciated it.”

There was a dramatic sigh, then silence.

Amusement continued radiating from everyone at the table. Before long, Steve cracked and started laughing. Then everyone else was too except for Clint who stood up and exclaimed, “Why are you guys laughing at my misfortune?”

When the laughter continued he simply sat back down and started muttering words like ‘unappreciated’ and ‘not fair’ in despair.

Laughter was still in the air when Tony stepped into the room, covered in a blanket that dragged along the floor.

Steve and Natasha were the first to notice the figure standing in the doorway; they abruptly went silent, prompting Bruce and Thor to look at Tony and Clint to lift his head.

“Tony…” Steve uttered, unsure how to continue when he saw the tired, grumpy look on Tony’s face.

Tony took that as his cue to walk past the table to the coffee machine, not looking at the rest of the team.

Everyone else exchanged uncomfortable glances. At one point, everyone looked at Bruce, Steve and Natasha tilting their heads minutely towards Tony in a gesture that said “talk to him”. Bruce’s eyes widened and then he glanced at Tony.

“Um… Hey, Tony,” he started, speaking slowly and cautiously like approaching a scared animal. “Do you want to eat breakfast with us? We still have some pancakes left.”

Tony tensed before turning and answering, filled coffee cup in hand, “I think I’ll pass, I’ve got some time sensitive experiments running in the shop.” He then quickly started dragging the blanket towards the door, he never once made eye contact with anyone in the room.

Just as Tony was once again in the doorway, Steve spoke up, “Hey, Tony, are you coming down for Movie Night? It’s your turn to pick.”

Tony paused before he voiced a short “maybe” and left the room.

The whole room relaxed.

Then Thor spoke, “That was civil and serious and nothing like our shield brother, Tony.”

“He’s horny, I’m telling you guys,” Clint stated with a shrug and a nod. 

Thor looked confused, “Is this due to Lady Potts’ departure?”

“Mm-hm,” Clint nodded. “You better believe it.”

Steve and Bruce glanced uncertainly at each other before turning back to their respective plates.

“Even if it is,” Natasha interjected quietly, “it’s none of our business.” She then disappeared out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

That evening the team was scattered around the large screen in the common area. Clint was sitting in a nest that was attached to the wall a couple meters up with his legs dangling over the edge. Steve and Thor each occupied a loveseat on either side of the screen while Bruce and Natasha were sat on either side of the sofa located between the loveseats.

The gap between the doctor and the assassin was meant for he who would pick the movie they watched tonight.

Ten minutes after seven the team heard rustling from the doorway where Tony stood, once again covered in a blanket that dragged along the floor. Everyone turned to look at him. Then he spoke, “I wasn’t sure what to watch today so I thought we’d just skip me and let Nat choose.”

Steve frowned, “Are you sure?”

“Positive, Cap.” His words were just too bright, an exaggeration of his usual demeanor.

Natasha stared at the screen for a moment, most likely thinking of movies. She then turned her eyes to Tony who was still standing in the doorway and gave him a considering look.

Just as Tony was beginning to look unnerved, shifting from foot to foot and avoiding her gaze, Natasha stretched and announced, “Pacific Rim”. She picked up her bowl of caramel popcorn off the floor and waited for everyone to settle in.

It would have been just fine, except suddenly someone had moved to block the screen. Tony, of course.

He looked at her uncertainly. “Um, aren’t you going to sit in the middle?”

“I’m perfectly comfortable where I am,” she answered.

“But you picked–”

He cut himself off when she looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “OK.”

The engineer sat down between Natasha and Bruce, pulled his leg up, and shifted the blanket around so they covered his legs as the room darkened and the movie began.

Half an hour in, the form sitting between Brace and Natasha started to sag – seemingly tired from simply sitting there in the company of others.

Eventually, Tony started leaning sideways instead of only sliding straight down until he his head came into contact with someone’s shoulder. At that moment, Natasha felt the tension that had inhabited Tony for the past few days slip away slightly.

Then the mechanic froze, probably having realized that he was practically cuddling a master spy who could kill him then and there without the rest of the team being the wiser. And he was doing so without her permission.

But instead of killing him or pushing him away, she put down the bowl popcorn back on the floor and lifted her legs off the floor as well. She then slipped one leg between the Tony and the back of the sofa. In doing so, she earned a curious glance from Tony who remained very tense, wondering just what was she doing.

His questions were answered when she grabbed his shoulders and pulled him down as she leaned back against the arm of the sofa. She kept pulling even when he started resisting, until his head rested on her lower abdomen at which point her which point her hands moved to rest at his and the top of his head.

Tony however remained tense, unsure of what was happening.

Doing nothing seemed to ease that tension a little, but Natasha felt the controlled breathing coming from that man against her leg and started moving her thumb where it rested under Tony’s ear, stroking the skin. The reaction was immediate, Tony shivered and relaxed under her touch, his eyes fluttering closed.

Instead of turning her attention back to the screening, she wasn’t interested anyways (the large robots were chosen just for the miserable engineer currently melting in her arms), Natasha continued observing the Tony noting how his breathing had become more natural, a smile playing at her lips. When she looked up, she saw Bruce looking the pair of them, face battling between confusion and amusement.

In answer, Natasha shifted her gaze to the hand in Tony’s hair and started carding her fingers through it. With the resulting contented sigh she looked back up at the scientist and saw his eyes widen and mouth fall open slightly in understanding. She nodded and shot a pointed look at Tony’s bare feet tucked between the cushions.

Bruce seemed to understand what she was saying leaned over to pick up Tony’s feet and put them in his lap. Tony’s eyes immediately flew open as he stiffened and started to get up, prevented only by Natasha’s hand on his neck.

He turned his head up to look at Natasha who gave him a small smile with an accompanying “shhh”. That appeared to calm him down, then he looked at Bruce also gave him a shy smile. A tentative smile grew in return. Then Natasha started combing her fingers through his hair again, which effectively made him go slack and close his eyes again.

When Bruce started massaging his feet, the grown man actually giggled softly, gaining the attention of everyone else in the room. Though confusion and amusement were shared all around nobody said anything, not with the narrowed eyes of the assassin that looked at them menacingly.

Tony however remained oblivious and fell asleep under his blanket despite the loud noise of fighting happening on screen, a content smile occupying his face.

~

As the credits rolled, the Clint, Steve and Thor started moving around. Clint and Thor each went to relieve themselves, stretching as they walked to the bathrooms. Steve started picking up the mostly empty bowls of popcorn scattered around the room, only throwing a couple of curious glances at the large sofa that the three other Avengers occupied, and then took them to the kitchen before returning to the common area.

At that point, both Clint and Thor had also returned. Clint was sitting on the back of the sofa looking down at Tony while Thor sat on the floor by the sleeping man’s head. It was still dark as JARVIS usually waited for the credits to roll completely before turning the lights up, though the music was significantly quieter.

Natasha was still idly caressing Tony’s hair when the others started gathering around.

“So what’s wrong with him?” Clint’s voice was a loud whisper so he could be heard above the music but leave Tony undisturbed. 

Thor nodded. “Friend Tony appears quite fatigued.” He too had lowered his voice.

“Yes.” Natasha answered.

Then, as Steve stepped around the sofa, the super soldier said, “That must why he’s been so irritable.”

“Only partly,” was Natasha’s short reply.

“But why is he being so cuddly?” Asked Clint, “He hates people touching him.”

“Pepper.” 

Everyone turned to Bruce at the sudden new voice, resulting in the doctor turning a little red and rubbing Tony’s feet more attentively.

“Pepper’s not around,” he murmured. “I think he misses her.”

Clint argued, “But it’s only been a few days, it can’t have been long enough for him to descend into this state.”

“He’s touch starved.” That was all Bruce could get out in answer before the credits finally ended and the lights started fading on.

The sudden silence and change in lighting seemed to have an effect on the sleeping Avenger; Tony started to stir. Bruce then copied Natasha’s motion from earlier by pointedly nodding at Tony’s hand for someone to hold it. Steve, being the one in the right position, kneeled took hold of the mechanic’s hand and started stroking the back of it. In response, Tony stilled and fell once again into a deeper sleep.

Natasha then quiet continued from Bruce’s statement, “It’s probably a remnant from his childhood. If the reports are to be believed, Howard Stark was never all that affectionate with his son. Although Maria did initially compensate for it, Howards drinking affected her severely.” Natasha paused to look at Steve who seemed to be contemplating her words. “The war changed him, and it’s implied that the alcohol made him violent. It tore the family apart. I don’t think Tony had all that much genuine physical affection from anyone from age seven until he met Pepper, and even then it was a while before physical contact truly came in to the picture. I just didn’t realize that lack of physical touch was affecting him so much until he started leaning on me during the movie.”

“I’m sorry, but how do you know all this?” Steve asked with a look of consternation.

“I read his file. Had to. I evaluated his suitability for the Avengers Initiative.”

Steve nodded and let it go.

“Anyway, touch starvation causes irritability, anxiety, and insomnia among other things.” Bruce, being the doctor, explained. “It’s probably why he’s so tired.”

He paused and then looked up, “Actually… JARVIS, when was the last time Tony has had a decent night’s sleep?”

JARVIS answered promptly. “Mr. Stark had six hours of sleep on Monday night.”

The team looked startled.

“But that was four days ago…” Steve began, concern started to take over his face.

“And Pepper was still here,” supplied Natasha.

“JARVIS…” Bruce seemed almost fearful to ask, “How much has he slept since then until now.”

“Mr. Stark slept 3 hours on Tuesday night before returning to the lab. From then, he has managed about half an hour of sleep at 7 to 8 hour intervals in his cot in the work shop.”

Stunned silence.

“I was under the impression that the Man of Iron did not sleep much anyway, but I take it this is abnormally little rest for a mortal.” Thor seemed subdued. “We must fix this. Give our friend as much comfort as he may need to rest to his fullest.”

There was moment where everyone contemplated what they could do.

Clint was the first to break the silence, “I got an idea.” He gestured to Thor, “Come on, big guy.”

As Clint lead Thor out the room he called out, “You guys just stay there for a moment.”


	3. Chapter 3

It must’ve have been a good fifteen minutes before the Avengers who were left in the living room heard anything from the two who had disappeared into the depths of the tower. In fact, they had settles in quite comfortably, Tony remained cozy in the couch, Natasha and Bruce had acquired tablets via Steve who had left briefly to pick up his sketchbook and a pencil from across the room.

Bruce was looking over some experimental results, Steve was drawing his and Tony’s hands, and Natasha was reading through some SHIELD reports. All had one hand occupied with comforting Tony.

There was and muffled thump followed by a curse. Steve shot an alarmed look at the sleeping figure, however Tony’s breaths continued without a hitch to indicate any kind of disturbance.

Meanwhile, Natasha looked over her shoulder to glare and the culprit who had made the noise.  
Clint stumbled in with his arms thoroughly filled with various pillows and blankets. A light duvet appeared to have been thrown in as well. His arms were so full that the top of his face was just about visible, it was no wonder he had been walking into things on his way. He managed to shift a pillow out of the way to shoot a grin at his teammates, a grin which promptly turned sheepish when he caught sight of Natasha’s glare. He quickly mouthed “sorry” before moving out of the doorway and dropping his loot from some unfortunate soul’s bedroom.

Clint moving out of the doorway had unblocked the view of Thor in the hallway struggling to maneuver a mattress around a bend. Clint moved to help Thor, meanwhile the others gave them considering looks which clearly translated to, “should I go help them?” The general consensus was “no, they’ll work it out themselves” coupled with shared amused glances and shrugging shoulders. The shrugging shoulders may have been closer to shaking shoulders but nobody commented on the fact.

From the hallway, whispered shouts could be heard.

“Pivot! Pivot!” The drifted into the room and had Bruce choking slightly, clearly starting to turn red with the effort of trying not to laugh. The questioning glances from Steve and Natasha only seemed to make it worse.

“I am trying, my friend, truly.” Came Thor’s somber reply.

There was an abrupt noise that sounded far too close to ripping cloth. However, Clint walked in carrying the front of the mattress and Thor carrying the back.

The men carried the mattress and to the middle of the entertainment area between the TV and the couch Tony was resting on. They placed it down gently and shared a pleased and congratulatory look before turning to the others with matching triumphant grins.

They were met with suppressed laughter. Natasha’s usual smirk was instead closer to a smile and Bruce rolled his eyes with a wide smile and turn to cough (almost certainly to hide a laugh). Steve on the other hand, had dropped head into his hand that was not holding Tony’s. Though his face was concealed his shoulders were visibly shaking with the effort of trying to keep himself quiet.

While the couch crew got a hold of themselves, Clint and Thor went back to collect the bedding that was piled by the doorway and went to work on making a large nest of the bed and the area around it.

As Steve got up to help, releasing Tony’s hand at last, he paused as something occurred to him. The rest of the Avengers sent curious glances his way before he motioned for them to continue and disappeared into the kitchen.

Clint was adjusting the sheets where they had slipped off one of the borders when a groggy voice broke the half hour long silence that had fill the common area.

“Are you officially nesting in the living room permanently now, Tweety?”

Needless to say, a number of them jumped in surprise. Natasha, of course had not moved a muscle.

Clint shot a wide-eyed look at Tony before turning to the bed and realized he had not thought to change the sheets into non-target patterned ones. He quickly grabbed a blue, more Spartan looking blanket and threw over the bed to cover the sheets and with awkward flourish threw his hands out to display his and Thor’s handiwork with a “tada…?”

A moment of silence ensued wherein Tony blinked owlishly at him and Clint spared a panicked glance at the bedding that had not yet made it into the nest.

Then Tony remembered. Pacific Rim. Natasha’s shoulder. Bruce’s foot rub.

He sat up abruptly. This time Natasha allowed him, and his feet sled of Bruce’s lap with ease. Then he stared at the bed attempting to put the pieces together.

He failed.

He threw a questioning glance at the people around him before seemingly deciding on a course of action.

“Um, what?”


	4. Chapter 4

Everyone in the room seemed to shift uncomfortably and avoid his gaze except for Thor who appeared to be immune to the awkwardness that had fallen over the Avengers. As such, it also happened to be Thor broke the silence and answered Tony’s ever so eloquent question.

“Friend Tony,” he began loudly. However, seeing Tony cringe he lowered his voice and continued no less jovially, “You appeared to be much in need of rest and we dared not disturb you when we saw you were so clearly comfortable in your sleep.”

Another uncomprehending blink graced Tony’s face before he glanced again at the mattress occupying the floor, “you could have left me… in the sofa?”

“Indeed. However, and this was Friend Clint’s brilliant idea,” Thor turned to the person in question with a large smile and clapped him on the back, “would you not be more comfortable on a mattress?”

After a brief silence from Tony it became clear to the rest of the team that Tony’s genius mind, addled as it was with an odd combination of exhaustion and sleep, had not made yet made any connections between Natasha’s earlier behavior, Bruce’s foot rub, and the many, many pillows and blankets that lay on the source of Tony’s confusion. A great relief to Natasha who feared Tony would retreat the moment he realized that the team was trying to help him sleep, knowing him he would deny that anything was wrong with him. However, before she even had the chance to formulate a solution for this delicate situation, Clint started talking.

“Well, you know. You looked comfortable. And so did Natasha. So I thought.” He cut himself off from abruptly, unsure of how to continue and simply gestured vaguely towards the mattress in question. Though Natasha could sympathize with the fact that Thor had perhaps put him on the spot by mentioning his part in the mattress appearing in the common area (aside from the obvious target patterned sheets that is), she could see how Clint’s series of short statements could lead Tony’s thoughts down the exact path she wanted him to avoid.

“Clint had the idea of having a sleepover right here,” Steve’s voice, bless his soul, carried in from the general direction of the kitchen giving everyone a story to run with that was very much the truth, only omitting the team’s concern for Tony’s wellbeing. Natasha breathed out the quietest sigh of relief and truly relaxed into the arm of the sofa for the first time since Tony sat up so abruptly. Steve’s head peered around the doorway with a gentle smile briefly before disappearing again around the corner.

Clint started nodding emphatically before continuing his explanation this time with full sentences, “Yeah, you guys looked so comfortable,” he gestured widely at the sofa where Tony, Bruce, and Natasha were still seated on, “that I figured we might as well take it the extra step, you know?”

On cue, Steve walked in with a smile and a tray loaded with steaming mugs. Mugs for all of them so that Tony didn’t feel like he was the being coddled, Natasha nodded in approval at the captain’s strategy.

Steve walked over to Bruce’s side of the sofa where there was a small table and placed the tray on it. Everyone peered curiously at the tray, though that was unnecessary as the moment Steve got near, the unmistakable scent of hot chocolate filled the air. Tony, Clint, and Thor all took noticeably deep breaths, Clint in particular stepped forward to grab one of the mugs but his hand was smacked away by Steve who gave him a pointed look before heading back to the kitchen, calling out, “I’m not done yet” from the doorway. A short moment later he was back with another tray, placing it with great flourish next to the other tray with only one word of explanation, “Customization.”

On the second tray was a sugar bowl, a small jug of milk, hand-whipped cream in a bowl, a bowl of chocolate chips, a bowl of mini marshmallows, and a tin of cookies. Needless to say everyone, including Tony in his still groggy state, gave him incredulous looks. Gone was his earlier confidence when presenting the hot chocolate customization tray, Steve looked away as he scratched his neck and asked with a quiet laugh, “Too much?”

Clint was the first to break the silence, “Are you kidding me? This is amazing!” He promptly grabbed his mug which had “Bird Brain” above a cartoon of cross-section of a man with a small brain printed on it, a Christmas gift from Tony.

In fact it seemed Steve had taken great care in selecting mugs for everyone, each team member had a mug on the tray that had been gifted to them by Tony on some occasion or other. Steve’s own mug was covered in various swear words and insults that could make a sailor blush. Thor had a badly drawn person who was simply made of green lines, essentially a stick person who actually had a torso, with long, black hair, a green cape, and yellow horns. Upon closer inspection, “LOKI” could be seen written in tiny lettering under the drawing. Bruce’s mug was rectangular and very clearly the character Anger from Inside Out (an actual Tony choice for movie night).

Natasha’s mug was perhaps the hardest to explain since it didn’t appear to have any obvious connection to her and was quite tame in comparison to the others. The mug was simply covered in dozens of cute, cartoon cats, every available surface had cats staring out. When questioned (by everyone except for the recipient of the gift) about the choice, Tony always answered with, “I just don’t want to get murdered in my sleep.” Nobody asked Natasha what she thought of it, but she used it enough that it was clear that she loved it. And if she had named some of her favourite cats on the mug, nobody needed to know.

The last mug, Tony’s mug while not a gift was worthy of note because out of all of Tony’s mugs, Steve picked out of the Pulp Fiction one that read “This is some serious gourmet shit!” next to a picture of Samuel L. Jackson. If Steve’s smug smile whenever he looked at the mug was anything to go by, it said exactly what he thought of his own hot chocolate setup.

Clint being the first to grab his mug was also the first to customize his drink.

“Did you put sugar in this already?” He didn’t wait for an answer before dumping four teaspoons of sugar into the dark, rich liquid. A lot of milk followed. He then created an impenetrable layer of mini marshmallows topped with a dollop of the cream. He added a large sprinkle of chocolate chips and finished it off with more marshmallows. In the meantime Thor had followed Clint’s recipe a step behind and ended up with a similar result.

Steve threw them an exasperated look as he watched them each sip from their sugary heart attacks and turned to the other three still on the couch and said, “I haven’t put any sugar in them yet.” 

Bruce looked away from Clint and Thor who had moved to sit on the edge of the mattress indulging on their individual sweet tooth and talking animatedly about the wonders of “Midgard” with wide eyes and replied with a mild, “Clearly.”

The underwhelming statement drew a snort from beside him. Tony, though apparently still unwilling to engage in with the rest of the team, was smiling to himself and seemed to have relaxed considerably since waking up, going so far as to lean back against Natasha’s leg which had yet to move. 

Steve then started on his own hot chocolate, a small amount of sugar, some milk, whipped cream, chocolate chips, and marshmallows and also took a seat on the edge of the mattress closest to the sofa facing them. He sipped on his drink with a please hum and urged Bruce to make his.

Bruce sat up straighter and reached over to the trays that were right next to him. Bruce went with a similar version to Steve’s only without the marshmallows. 

With only Natasha and Tony left, and Tony clearly not in a state to get up, Natasha gently moved her leg out from under him and asked, “What do you want in yours, Tony?”

“Like Bruce’s. But with more milk.” Clearly, despite his exhaustion, Tony was still aware of his surroundings. Natasha nodded with a smile and left to make their drinks.

With Natasha no longer on the couch to support him Tony slowly slumped to the side. When Bruce noticed, he grabbed Tony’s arm in a firm grip and pulled him towards him so that their shoulders rested gently against each other. Again, Tony tensed at the contact, however he did not relax immediately as he did during the movie, his nap had made him more awake and self conscious. So Bruce picked up his tablet that was still in his lap and running Tony through his experiments and their results from the last few days. Ever the academic, Tony listened. And as before, Tony started to relax.

When Natasha finished their drinks she handed over Tony’s drink, sat back down in her seat, sipped her drink which was identical to Bruce’s and sighed.

Since Tony was already comfortably leaning against Bruce, Natasha found another way to be in contact with Tony by once again leaning against the sofa’s armrest, lifting her on to the sofa, and tucking her feet under Tony’s thigh. This time he didn’t tense.

Tony took a sip of his hot chocolate with a contented sigh. Basking in the aroma of the rich, dark chocolate, he took the opportunity to surreptitiously glance at his surroundings. Natasha and Bruce were both on their tablets looking for more results to talk to Tony about and reading respectively. Steve appeared to have his sketchbook out and if his glances at the sofa were anything to go by he was drawing them, Tony flushed slightly but didn’t call him out. Thor appeared to be describing some of the Aesir delicacies though Clint was having none of it and fake retched at fairly regular intervals. 

Bruce nudged Tony, “Do you want to see the results from yesterday? The reaction was much more volatile than I expected. Maybe you could figure it out.”

Tony turned back to the tablet, throwing once last glance at the team before settling down to listen to Bruce as a small smile graced his features.


End file.
